The Wise Little Hen (1934)

The hen is looking for someone to help her plant her corn. Peter Pig and Donald Duck both feign belly aches to get out of the chore. So, with help from her chicks, she plants it herself. ... See full summary »

Stars:

Pinto Colvig, Florence Gill, Clarence Nash

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Pinto Colvig	...	Peter Pig (voice) (uncredited)
Florence Gill	...	Wise Little Hen (voice) (uncredited)
Clarence Nash	...	Donald Duck (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

The hen is looking for someone to help her plant her corn. Peter Pig and Donald Duck both feign belly aches to get out of the chore. So, with help from her chicks, she plants it herself. Harvest time comes; again, Peter and Donald claim belly aches. She cooks up a variety of corn dishes, and heads over to Peter and Donald, but before she can open her mouth, they already have their belly aches. Once she asks, they are miraculously "cured" but all she gives them is castor oil, for their belly aches.

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Plot Keywords:

corn | castor oil | chick | harvest | pig | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Musical | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 June 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Galinha Esperta

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Donald Duck makes his debut as a supporting character in this cartoon.

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Connections

Featured in The Many Faces of Donald Duck (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Help Me Plant My Corn"
Music by Leigh Harline
Lyrics by Larry Morey

User Reviews

Not a great cartoon, but in many ways still a must-see.

If you are looking for this short, try the "Disney Timeless Treasures: Volume 3". It's there along with several other seldom-seen cartoon shorts.

This Silly Symphony cartoon is, like the rest of the series, wonderfully animated--as Disney was the producer of the best looking cartoons of the 1930s...period. However, like many of the films in the series, the story itself wasn't always so hot. Because of that, I can't recommend it to the casual viewer. HOWEVER, to the cinemaniac or Disney-phile it is STILL a must-see for two reasons. The first is that the animation is terrific--just like all the Disney shorts of the 1930s. But a much more important reason is that this film marks the first appearance by Donald Duck--and that is something to celebrate. To those unaware of his evolution, he does look quite different--as he did until the very late 30s.

As far as the story goes, it's the familiar tale of the Little Red Hen--and the lazy farm animals who refuse to help her plant and then harvest her grain. No major surprises here--just some nice animation and Donald.